GERMANY. Frankfurt Airport served 59.4 million passengers in 2023, a leap of +21.3% year-on-year but still down by -15.9% on pre-pandemic 2019.
The year ended positively for Germany’s largest airport, which served 4.6 million passengers in the month. This figure represented a +15.2% surge compared to December 2022, while remaining six percentage points below December 2019.
Frankfurt Airport owner and operator Fraport Group saw strong traffic recovery across its wider network of airports (see below).
Fraport CEO Dr Stefan Schulte said: “2023 was yet another challenging year for the aviation industry, particularly in Europe. In addition to the ongoing war in Ukraine, airspace restrictions were also imposed because of the ‘Air Defender’ NATO exercise conducted in Germany.
“The complex and interconnected system of international air traffic was also disrupted by a number of strikes throughout 2023, including walkouts by French air traffic controllers. Despite these adverse effects and in a mutual effort with our system partners, we succeeded in further stabilising operations in Frankfurt last year.
“Our traffic performance for 2023 clearly demonstrates demand is recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic with people’s desire to travel remaining strong. Therefore, I’m optimistic for the new year 2024.”
Fraport’s global airports post upsurge in passenger numbers
Among airports in the Fraport Group global network, Ljubljana Airport was one of the fastest growing, with around 1.3 million passengers, up +30.9% year-on-year and reaching 73.8% of the 2019 record. Slovenia’s main travel gateway welcomed 87,378 passengers in December, a +44.4% year-on-year rise.
Fraport’s 14 Greek regional airports welcomed a total of 33.9 million passengers, climbing by +11.8% from the previous year and exceeding 2019 levels by +12.3%. Traffic figures at these airports last month were at 754,184, up by +12.7 year-on-year.
The Bulgarian coastal airports of Burgas and Varna also saw strong growth in passenger numbers, with around 3.7 million passengers, a year-on-year increase of +17.9% (down -25.8% compared to 2019). In December 2023, traffic at both airports fell by -13.1% year-on-year to a total of 90,473 passengers.
About 35.7 million passengers passed through Antalya Airport in 2023, a rise of +15% year-on-year and +0.7% compared to 2019. The airport served about 1 million passengers in December, a surge of +9.3% compared to the same month of the year prior.
Combined passenger numbers at the Brazilian airports of Fortaleza and Porto Alegre stood at 13.1 million, up +5.2% year-on-year (down by -15.7% compared to 2019). In December, traffic figures at both airports slid by -0.6% year-on-year to around 1.1 million.
In Lima Airport, there were approximately 21.3 million passengers recorded in 2023, a spike of +14.1% from 2022 (-10.1% lower than 2019). Some 2 million passengers travelled through the airport in December, an increase of +14% compared to the same month in 2022. ✈
